The Democratic leadership in the state House has some tough questions to answer.

Recently, state Rep. Mike Zabel, D-Upper Darby Township, resigned due to numerous complaints of sexual harassment.

As Spotlight PA and the Williamsport Sun-Gazette reported about a week ago, the leadership of the Democratic caucus knew about complaints about Zabel’s conduct for at least four years.

So why did it take years for the public to learn? For any pressure to be placed on Zabel to recognize he isn’t fit, professionally or ethically, to represent the people and collect a tax dollar-funded paycheck? Why was there no sense of urgency to improve or bolster rules on who could file a complaint when a lawmaker behaved inappropriately?

The answers to these questions, unfortunately, have been lacking.

Concerns about a climate of permissiveness around sexual harassment are not limited to the state government — as the Associated Press and Williamsport Sun-Gazette reported in Thursday’s edition, the U.S. Senate confirmed as the next ambassador to India former Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti.

This despite allegations a top aide to then-Mayor Garcetti repeatedly sexually harassing coworkers. Garcetti denies that he had any knowledge of the accusations until they became public, but a Senate report, according to the website Politico, found “several individuals told investigators that Mayor Garcetti either had personal knowledge of the sexual harassment or should have been aware of it.”

And of course this is also a bi-partisan problem. Five years ago, Spotlight PA reminds us, state Rep. Nick Miccarelli, R-Ridley Park, was accused of sexual assault by two women, one of them a fellow state representative. The Republican caucus, which held the majority at the time, did not treat the allegations with the seriousness they deserved either. At the national level allegations swirled around numerous figures within President Donald Trump’s orbit and the former president himself remains embroiled in lawsuits and investigations stemming from his own conduct.

The American people deserve better — from Democrats and Republicans. From the state Legislature and from national agencies and offices. The American people — especially American women — deserve a state and federal government with the credibility to address workplace harassment in the private sector, in our schools and workplaces and communities.

Sexual harassment is an offense that requires clear, unequivocal denouncement and correction throughout society. The American people and American women deserve governments that are up to that task.